Put into a stewpan a knuckle of veal, some slices of ham, four or five pounds of beef, the legs and loin of a fowl; all the trimmings of meat or game that you have, and moisten with boiled water suffi-cient to cover half the meat; make it sweat gently on a slow fire, till the meat is done through; this you may ascertain by thrusting your knife into it; if no blood follows, it is time to moisten with boiling water sufficient to cover all the meat. Then season with a bundle of parsley and green onions, a clove, half a bay-leaf, thyme, a little salt, and trimmings of mushrooms. When the sauce has boiled long enough to let the knuckle be well done, skim off all the fat, strain it through a silken sieve, and boil down this consomme till it is nearly a glaze; next take four spoonfuls of very fine flour, dilute it with three pints of very good cream, in a stewpan big enough to contain the cream, consomme, flour, etc.; boil the flour and cream on a slow fire. When it boils, pour in the consomme, and continue to boil it on a slow fire if the sauce be thick, but on the contrary, if the sauce be thin, on a quick fire, in order to thicken it. Season with salt, but put no pepper. No white sauce admits pepper, except when you introduce into it something chopped fine. Pepper appears like dust, and should therefore be avoided. This sauce should be very thick. Put it into a white basin through a tammy, and keep it in the larder out of the dust.

* This thickening is what is called in French, liaison; the yolks of two or four eggs.

This sauce is the foundation, if I may so speak, of all sorts of little sauces, where white sauces are preferred. It should always be kept very thick, as you can thin it whenever you please, either with stock-broth or with cream. If too thin, it could not be used for so many purposes.